Yaser Esam Hamdi (born September 26, 1980) is a now-former American citizen who was captured in Afghanistan in 2001. It is claimed by the U.S. government that he was fighting against U.S. and Afghan Northern Alliance forces with the Taliban. He was declared an "illegal enemy combatant" by the Bush administration and detained for almost three years without charge.
He was initially detained at Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was later transferred to military jails in Virginia and South Carolina after it became known that he was a U.S. citizen.
Critics of his imprisonment claimed his civil rights were violated and that he was denied due process of law under the U.S. Constitution, including imprisonment without formal charges and denial of legal representation.
On June 28, 2004, in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, the United States Supreme Court rejected the U.S. government's attempts to detain Hamdi indefinitely without trial.
On September 23, 2004, the United States Justice Department released Hamdi to Saudi Arabia on the condition that he give up his U.S. citizenship.
Read more about Yaser Esam Hamdi: Early Years, Afghanistan, 2002 Memos, U.S. Supreme Court amici Curiæ Briefs, U.S. Supreme Court Decision, Legal Significance, Release